{"id":383382,"date":"2026-07-23T03:50:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T03:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/383382\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T03:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T03:50:16","slug":"arch-manning-texas-qb-a-friendly-rival-says-texas-ams-marcel-reed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/383382\/","title":{"rendered":"Arch Manning: Texas QB a friendly rival, says Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 Texas A&M<\/a> quarterback Marcel Reed<\/a> may be from Nashville, but he\u2019s learned plenty about the rivalry with Texas football in his three years in Aggieland.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Gig \u2019em? Great. Horns down? Good. Bevo? Bad. Burnt orange? Even worse.<\/p>\n

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But when it comes to Texas football <\/a>quarterback Arch Manning<\/a>, there\u2019s nothing but respect and admiration between two of the most experienced quarterbacks in the SEC.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, although there’s rivalries and stuff like that, but at the end of the day, we all play a game that we love,\u201d Reed said Wednesday at SEC media days.<\/p>\n

MORE: SEC football preview: Ranking Arch Manning, Marcel Reed and all the league quarterbacks<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Quarterback<\/p>\n

Quarterback Marcel Reed of the Texas A&M Aggies speaks at SEC Football Kickoff Media Day at Tampa Marriott Water Street on July 22, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Parker S. Freedman\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Parker S. Freedman\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Manning Passing Academy: Camp bonding experience for QBs<\/p>\n

Reed, Manning and a handful of the country’s other top quarterbacks gathered last month at the\u00a0Manning Passing Academy<\/a> in Thibodaux, La., to tutor some youngsters and talk ball with their peers.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe’re there to connect with each other and have a good time,\u201d Reed said. \u201cBut there’s still competition in the drills and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reed and Manning share some similarities that go beyond their roles as the starting quarterbacks for the two most prominent programs in the state of Texas, with apologies to Texas Tech. Both blue-chip quarterbacks came from a heralded 2023 recruiting class that also included current star quarterbacks like Oregon’s Dante Moore, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava and Kansas State’s Avery Johnson.<\/p>\n

And both Reed and Manning endured some rocky patches before settling into reliable players. Each redshirted as freshmen, and each had some struggles early on as starters.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed (10) leaves the field after the 16-10 win over Auburn at Kyle Field on Saturday, Sep. 27, 2025 in College Station, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Now, Reed and Manning enter the 2026 season as two of the most proven quarterbacks in the SEC, and Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said younger quarterbacks should pay attention to how each developed in the same system without entering the transfer portal.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think what\u2019s lost in football nowadays in general is how you get better,\u201d Elko said. \u201cYoung kids in college, what they are as a freshman is not always what he\u2019s going to be. And what he is in game one (of a season) is different than what they are in game 12, let alone from year one to year four.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt happens in the pro ranks, too. Just because he struggles as a rookie doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019ll struggle for his entire 13-year career. Kids get better. We lose sight of the fact that kids have the ability to enhance their skills over time, and the two big kids (Manning and Reed) in the state have done that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) enters the stadium ahead of the Lone Star Showdown, the rivalry match-up between the Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies at Darrell K Royal\u2013Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Nov. 28, 2025.<\/p>\n

Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Lone Star Showdown: Aggies eager to return to Kyle Field<\/p>\n

Not that a friendly rivalry between the quarterbacks always extends to the fans. The Aggies are eager to beat Texas<\/a> for the first time since the Longhorns joined the SEC in 2024, which would satiate an A&M fan base that may be hungrier for a win in the series than anything else on this year\u2019s menu.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI got educated on the rivalry real quick,\u201d said Texas A&M safety Marcus Ratcliffe, who\u2019s from the San Diego area. \u201cI saw it with people that either were from College Station or have family that went to A&M. I’ve learned it’s a pretty intense rivalry. And obviously, playing in it as well, I have my own personal reasons. But aside from my personal reasons, I’ve seen through the community of A&M how much it means to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Linebacker Daymion Sanford, a Katy native, said \u201cit’s an honor\u201d to play in rivalry games. But like Reed, he doesn\u2019t let the bitterness extend beyond the sidelines, especially when it comes to facing Manning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a good quarterback, and he\u2019s a great dude on and off the field,\u201d Sanford said. \u201cAnd he\u2019s good with his legs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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So, Marcel, no trash talking down in Thibodaux about the Longhorns\u2019 Nov. 27 trip to College Station?<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn’t say anything about coming to Kyle Field,\u201d Reed said with a laugh. \u201cI mean, it’s on the schedule. I’m sure (Manning) knows he’s got to come, but yeah, I think he’s probably as excited about the game as I am, so just looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed may be from Nashville, but he\u2019s learned plenty about the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[3230,132,134,133,261,66615,33514,4055,135265,14539,19650,537,536],"class_list":["post-383382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-arch-manning","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-college-football","tag-dallas-sharing","tag-lone-star-showdown","tag-marcel-reed","tag-sec-football-media-days","tag-texas-a-m-aggies","tag-texas-a-m-aggies-football","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-longhorns-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}